This invention relates generally to the field of postage meters and is more particularly concerned with handling of waste ink in postage meters.
Postage meters that employ an ink jet printing unit are in widespread use. To maintain printing quality it may be necessary to purge dried or partially dried ink and/or air bubbles from the printing unit. For that reason, it is known to include an ink purge unit in a postage meter that employs ink jet printing. At selected times, the purge unit is engaged with the ink jet printing unit to remove waste ink from the ink jet printing unit. The waste ink is deposited in an absorbent pad.
In the United States, postal regulations require that postage meters be rented, not sold, to aid in maintaining the security of postal funds. It is not unusual for postage meters to come off rental after use by a postal patron for a period of time. The postage meters may then be returned to the manufacturer/owner of the meters for refurbishment, if needed. The returned meters may then be rented to other postal patrons.
During shipment or handling of postage meters to return the meters to the manufacturer/owner, it may occur that the meters may be tipped over, or carried on their sides or upside down. When this occurs, waste ink may drip out of the absorbent pad to foul parts of the postage meter. In some cases the damage to operating parts of the meter, or disfigurement of the appearance of the postage meter, may be so great that it is not cost effective to refurbish and re-rent the postage meter. In these cases the postage meter may need to be scrapped, leading to an increase in over-all cost to the meter manufacturer/owner.